Unsurprisingly, this holding – that software that applies well-known actions is patent ineligible – has profoundly impacted the state of software patents in the United States. Already-issued patents have felt the most tangible impacts of the decision; as of 2016, a total of 378 software patents have been invalidated out of a total of 568 challenges (66.5%). A loss in patent protection could, at the very least, be expected to hamper innovation and growth in the software industry. However, the industry’s metrics since Alice was decided in 2014 demonstrate that did not happen. In fact, the software industry appears to be thriving both in growth and patent applications.

One explanation for these results is that the software industry features a higher level of internal motivation to spur development, despite less extrinsic incentives (patent protection). An example of internal motivations is the rise of open-source software, the development strategy wherein software developers and rights owners provide the source code and licenses to modify/utilize the code for free to the public—essentially treating software as a public good. When open-source developers seek patents, they typically do so not out of desire for licensing, but rather out of defensive necessity. The process is known as defensive patenting and typically includes the issuance of non-enforcement statements, which are promises that a patentee will not sue others for infringement of the patent. Further, such software developers typically contract “patent peace provisions” that prohibit contributors to the code from attacking one another, or even the original patent holder. Overall, the example of open-source development may imply that software developers care less for the monetary benefits of patents and are therefore less impacted by the restriction Alice placed upon the art unit.

Overall, the lasting impact of Alice has yet to be seen in the four years since the decision. Even with the Court’s harshly anti-software stance, the software industry appears to be flourishing. The high level of independent motivation present in software development is one possible explanation for this resilience.